A Leaf on the Lemon Tree
by Zyruma
Summary: *DISCONTINUED* Lyra Leaf is VP of the Global Electric Vehicle Organization, run by Nicole Tesla. Or, she says she is - in reality, she's a security guard at CHROME's Training Facility. Not so far away, Grem and Acer have been separated, and Acer is lost in a forest. But when their paths cross and Acer is offered a spot to train as a CHROME agent, can an unlikely friendship develop?
1. Chapter 1

"I'm here to see Miles Axlerod."

No sooner had the words left the blue Nissan's silver lips than the eyes of the nicely-polished Ford Edge behind the counter widened in shock.

"A-are you _sure,_ miss?"

Lyra Leaf gave a slight nod of her hood, her piercing lime-green eyes never leaving the ocean of teal in the other's. She was well aware of the fact that Axlerod, formerly known as Sir, had likely not received many visits over the months following his infamous arrest, and she had well prepared herself for this moment.

"Trust me. I know exactly what I'm doing."

"May I see your identification?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Lyra replied, whipping out the small rectangular card that carried her personal information. "Lyra Leaf, vice president of the Global Electric Vehicle Organization. I work for Nicole Tesla."

"Any... personal connections to Mr. Axlerod, Miss Leaf?" asked the Ford, scrawling something down on an official-looking form as she spoke.

"He was a part of the organization before his plan was found out." She inhaled sharply, changing the subject. "You seemed pretty surprised I've come to see him, any particular reason for that?"

"You're his first visitor. Not even his wife has paid him a visit. Ex-wife, I should say. Speaking of whom, I don't think anyone's got a clue to where she's been the past few months. I don't suppose you'd know anything of her whereabouts, miss?"

"Nope, not at all," Lyra lied.

"Well, I do hope she's all right."

Lyra smiled to herself, content with the knowledge that Laney Axlerod - who now preferred to be addressed by her maiden name of Parker - was indeed fine. It had cut into Lyra over time, knowing something that most of the public had been desperate to find out for months, and she was sure it would be harder still speaking to Miles about his betrayal of love for money. She had made up her mind long ago that she would find a way to ease into the subject whether he liked it or not, but she didn't want to become his next target should he ever manage to break free. The Nissan bit her lip, realizing she had been in silence for several moments.

The Ford must have seen a twinge of doubt in Lyra's flitting eyes. She leaned in closely, as closely as she could across the polished marble counter, close enough so that Lyra could feel her warm, pleasantly scented breath fogging up the charging hatch on the tip of her hood. Lyra gulped, unsure entirely of what was to come.

"Lyra Leaf, I am warning you, here and now. Miles Axlerod is extremely dangerous, and he's nothing now like what you likely remember. All those smiles, all that charm, all that shine and sparkle, it was all a cover-up, a facade. Don't take to heart a single word that comes out of his mouth. Honest, I've seen him these days. Don't you dare push anything the wrong way, don't you dare even try."

She pulled back and smiled warmly, in a way that made Lyra wonder if the Ford's sibilant monologue had been simply a figment of her own imagination. The Nissan took a deep breath, forcing herself to stare straight ahead.

"Now, darling, it's time you made your-"

"Yeah," Lyra interjected suddenly, fearing that if she kept the word in her mouth too long it would turn sour and she would work herself into a panic. "Yeah, I'll do it."

"Best follow me then. Come on, this way," replied the Ford, waving a tire in a beckoning gesture towards the Leaf as she began to drive away from her station, flipping the standing sign on the countertop from _"Open For Service"_ to _"Service Unavailable."_

It was eerily silent as the Ford led the way for Lyra, lost in her own thoughts and worries, through a convoluted tangle of hallways and doors. She couldn't help noticing that they all looked mostly, if not exactly, the same. At least if Axlerod were to somehow escape, it wouldn't take much effort - or much time - for him to get lost. It was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless, and so she took it.

Just when she started to think they were going around in endless circles, the Ford stopped, and Lyra behind her. "Here we are, miss, at least for me. I'm not allowed past this point, so it'll just be that first door on your right. Don't be afraid, there'll be a few inches of solid glass between you and him. Of course that means you won't be able to hear each other, so you'll need to use the phone system. Just a touch of the green button should start it up. It's all tires-free."

"Thanks," Lyra muttered, avoiding eye contact as she drove swiftly ahead, with not a single glance behind her.

Despite her best efforts to prepare herself for what she might see, even her wildest expectations were no match for the sight that met her eyes. She couldn't suppress the gasp that thankfully, Miles was unable to hear. As the Ford had instructed her to do, she drove over to the panel on the wall that controlled the phone, almost immediately spotting the dimly glowing green button. She pressed her tire to it lightly, releasing only when a faint buzzing signaled the link between them. She backed up until she was centered in front of the rectangular window positioned at eye level and took a shaky breath.

The Ford had been right in all respects. His once-dazzling blue eyes were bloodshot and streaked with slashes of gray, and if it was true that one's eyes are the window to their soul, all Lyra saw inside was pure, unbridled insanity. His breathing, distorted slightly by the crackle of the phone connection, was no more than a shallow, uneven series of gasps that sounded glaringly like choking sobs. He was still painted in green, although it was covered in at least a few layers of dust and grime, and had been peeled and scratched away in several places. Interestingly, Lyra noticed, the dirt appeared slightly fainter on both edges of his hood below his eyes, obviously washed thin by streams of tears. She wouldn't be surprised if he cried himself to sleep on a nightly basis. All four of his tires had evidently gone flat long ago, and it seemed to be causing him a great amount of pain.

"I'll forgive you for staring," he spat, his voice hoarse and fluctuating. "But don't expect much more from me than that."

"Miles, it's me. Don't you remember?" Lyra said softly, concealing any fear that remained in her voice with a gentle and soothing tone, speaking as if she were trying to comfort an injured animal.

"Vice President," Axlerod whispered, apparently finding it too difficult to speak. "Yes, I remember." He pulled closer to the window. "What of the others now? Nicole, the President, she's still there?"

Lyra nodded, resisting the urge to point out that Nicole Tesla's presence at the Global Electric Vehicle Organization was hardly a pleasure. Most Teslas, be they a Model S or a Roadster - of which Nicole was the latter - held a strong rivalry against Lyra's kind for a reason unknown to her, or any of GEVO's Leafs for that matter.

"What brought you here?"

The question punctuated a lengthy silence, stirring Lyra from the depths of her mind. _Great_. Exactly the question she hoped it wouldn't occur to him to ask. She rubbed a tire nervously on the ground, forcing herself to remain calm on the outside as her mind scrambled to find a viable excuse.

"Oh, umm... I was just, uh, wondering whether or not you might be interested in converting to electric for real? You know, if, well-"

"If they ever let me out. Which _isn't_ likely."

"Yeah, that..."

"Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"It's just between you and me, I promise."

"I would."

Lyra's eyes widened. "Really?"

"I'd do _anything!_" he yelled abruptly, slamming his torn-up tire against the window in a fit of rage. Lyra scrambled back and shrieked. _"Anything_ to get me out of here! _Anything_ to make everyone believe that I'm really who I said I was! Because I've thought about it, I really have! Three _months_ thinking about that and nothing else! Every single thing I've ever done wrong is screaming at me in my head, and it hurts... oh, Lyra, it hurts so badly... oh, please..."

His tire slid slowly down the window with a deafening screech, coming to rest on the floor as Miles leaned against the wall, sobbing dejectedly. Lyra felt a sudden pang of guilt somewhere deep inside her, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and feeling as if she might cry herself. She pressed her own tire gently to the window, where his had been just moments earlier. Overcome with a sudden desire to comfort him, she wanted to tell him that everything was going to be okay, that he could fix it all with time, that she knew exactly how he felt - all three of which would be lies. Instead she waited patiently, her tire against the glass, for him to calm down. Eventually his cries dwindled down into whimpers, and he took a slow, deep breath, meeting Lyra's gaze with his own.

"Lyra... I'm so sorry, but... Laney..." He shuddered as if the name burned merely to think about. "Where is she?"

"Oh..." Lyra had indeed been telling herself all this time that Laney would figure into the conversation somehow, but she couldn't have imagined that Miles would be the one to bring it up. "Miles, she's... disappeared. No one knows where she is. It's been months now. But I'm sure she's okay, they haven't found anything to be able to say she isn't-"

A look of severe dread crossed Miles' face. "Oh, no... No, no, she can't, she wouldn't..."

He trailed off there, leaving Lyra to ask the question she _really_ had in mind. "You really loved her, didn't you?"

"Yes, Lyra. Yes, I did. Before everything went wrong, before any of that ever happened, we were together."

"How long had you known each other?"

"Since childhood. It wasn't just love, it was true friendship." He sighed despondently, blinking away the last of the tears from his eyes. "I never should have lied to her. Because all that money I could have made, was_nothing_ compared to what I already had, and what I could have kept had I not been such a greedy fool..." His eyes welled up with tears yet again, but this time the emotion within them was something entirely different: regret.

Lyra couldn't bite back her own tears this time. "She'd forgive you. And... and I-I'm sure she'll accept you for who you are."

He sniffled. "Engine and all?"

"Yes."

"You're very kind."

Lyra gave a bittersweet smile, a tear leaking out of the corner of her right eye.

"Lyra Lydia Leaf, if there's one thing you should know-"

"Hey, whoa, wait a sec. How do you know my middle name?"

He chose to leave her question unanswered. "If you're ever lucky enough to find love - a true, deep, unconditional and undying bond of friendship as well as romance - never, _ever_ should you let it go. No matter if everyone else thinks badly of it, no matter if it should by all means be forbidden, don't you dare abandon it for anything."

"You really have changed."

"Well, three months locked up in a room with no company but myself and nothing to do but rethink my entire life, yes. I suppose I have."

"And I'm glad for that. But just one more question, alright?"

"Sure, anything."

"Are you planning revenge? Do you still want to get back at the world for how you were treated? Or is that all behind you now?"

"Revenge would be unnecessary, and not to mention useless. But I'm not the one in charge anymore, so the decision is no longer up to me."

"Wait, but... who is? I don't understand, what-"

"If I told you..." he whispered, staring straight into the Nissan's eyes, "...you wouldn't believe me."

Lyra gasped as she heard a loud warning tone, and the phone system shut itself off. Red letters scrolled across the screen saying, _Your ten-minute visit has come to an end. Have a nice day_. She punched the green button repeatedly, but there was no response. Giving Miles a final wave through the window and getting one in return, she opened the door and retraced her path to the doorway where she knew the Ford was waiting.

She was immediately met with the familiar sights and sounds of London's busy streets as she exited the building, a wave of chilly September air washing over her and making her shiver involuntarily. It was getting past the point where summer weather continued to linger on into the early days of fall, and to the point where the leaves bore a hint of yellow seeping into their usual green. Not wanting to enter the traffic just yet, Lyra paused for a few moments, making a mental note to herself to drive on the left side of the street instead of the right. Funny, she thought, that even though it had been a whole seven years and then some since she had left her longtime hometown of Bellevue, Washington, she was still getting used to some aspects of life. At least the Olympic Games would be held here next year, and that was something Lyra could happily look forward to.

Her gaze shifted to a single tire resting against a brick wall to her right. Moving closer, she realized that it wasn't just a tire - that an unfortunate car had somehow lost an entire wheel. The tire was considerably worn and flecked with dirt, but not enough for the inscription to be unreadable. It read _Road Hug, Rack and Minion. _She'd never heard of that particular brand before. Glancing behind her, Lyra noticed a pub by the name of Ye Left Turn Inn, which she passed on her daily commute to work, and which was known for, at times, being especially rowdy. Maybe that was where it happened.

With a sharp inhale, Lyra entered the stream of traffic and began making her way back to the small apartment building she called home. Better enjoy her off-day while it lasted.


	2. Chapter 2

[A/N: When Lyra refers to a certain "he" she might see at the GEVO convention, that was intentionally vague. I will tell you that 1) it's not Acer, they've never met before; and 2) it's not a canon character. Also, if you're wondering how Nicole speaks and/or what her nationality is, I'm not completely sure. Use your imagination on this one! (; Lastly, there might be some confusion surrounding Josephine Volt and Philomena Prius being members of the Global Electric Vehicle Organization. GEVO does accept hybrids, just FYI. Acer and Lyra will meet in the next chapter. Don't let the suspense kill you in the meantime.]

Happy reading,

~Anaïs (Zyruma)

_~•~•~•~•~•~•~_

The wind escalated from a gentle breeze to a vigorous bluster, rustling the yellow-stained autumn leaves and carrying the sounds of traffic deep into the deciduous forest. Acer shivered, but it wasn't from the biting cold. The pain in his axles was doing anything but fading, and in fact as every day dragged on it had gotten considerably worse. Ever since - _No, _he told himself, squeezing his bruised eyelids tightly closed and willing away the painful memories of that day. Acer didn't know exactly how long it had been, but it couldn't have been longer than three months.

It was all the fault of that stupid tow truck, no doubt about it. Surely the truck wasn't even a _real_ spy, and just how incredibly thick-headed did those stuck-up British agents have to be to mistake him for one? He'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and yet still managed to ruin everything Acer and the other Lemons had been carefully planning for years. It was one thing to be found out by someone like Finn McMissile who actually had a clue what they were doing, but having the operation ripped apart by a rusty old truck who couldn't tell the difference between wasabi and ice cream was all the more insulting.

The Pacer sighed, shoving a small branch aside with his left tire and watching as it fell into a nearby stream with a faint but audible splash. Naturally he would have used his right tire, but in the state it was in now it was useless. What currently occupied his right wheel well wasn't even his own wheel - he'd found it thrown amongst other garbage behind a building once and decided it would be better than nothing. Which was true, but not by much.

Acer's thoughts returned to the events of the recent past, and all of a sudden a horrible, sinking, nauseating feeling multiplied his discomfort to a level he had never before imagined to be possible. It came with the realization that the tow truck - Mater was his name, wasn't it? - couldn't be blamed for getting him into this. Neither could Agent Redline, or even Professor Zündapp, who had convinced Acer and his roommate, Grem, to leave their lives behind and join him on his mission to give the Lemons a respectable name. It was all his own fault, for being so vulnerable and desperate for acceptance that he'd risk his life for a small chance to become successful. Now that he thought about it, he should have seen this coming all along, had he not been blinded by a false sense of optimism. Yes, the life he had the better part of a decade ago might not have been so exciting or rewarding, but at least he was safe.

And now he was as far from safe as he could possibly get, unable to venture out into the city and seek help for his injuries without being caught and thrown in jail, and unable to stray too far from the dark alleyways at the edge of the forest, in which he could most nights find food, without starving to death. He wasn't even sure if Grem had made it out of the pub fight alive, but he continued to hold out the hope that his lifelong best friend would find him eventually. Countless days and nights Acer had listened in vain for the sound of a voice calling out his name, rising above the endless drone of traffic, but had never heard it. In several instances he could have sworn he heard someone humming. It was a soothing tune, always the same one, always the same voice, always accompanied by the same rustling of the leaves and the same confusing electronic tone that nothing in the forest might have possibly emitted by itself. Acer had simply dismissed it all as a product of his growing insanity.

The sun was setting. It didn't matter much anyway, since there was never really much light in the forest, but the drop in temperature as well as the slowing of the traffic made it clear that another long day was coming to a close.

_Maybe tomorrow..._

_~•~•~•~•~•~•~_

Lyra stopped at the sight of the familiar flickering neon sign marking the entrance to the Global Electric Vehicle Organization building. Seven years ago, when she'd first started as Vice President, the apple green and creamy white of the organization's logo had been new and exciting to her. Now, all they signaled was another day of work. She didn't even have to do this; she was aware that it would be just as easy to drive right past the building and to her small apartment a few blocks down the road. She figured, however, that Nicole would probably have at least a fair amount of work for her to do after her hard-earned and grudgingly granted rare off-day. Lyra didn't feel quite ready to face Nicole after a day where she might have had some actual work to do, which was usually forced upon Lyra instead, but after visiting a former criminal mastermind's prison cell, she could probably handle anything the Tesla could throw at her.

With a whoosh of warm air the door was pushed open, ringing a chime that shook the drowsy silver Chevrolet Volt behind GEVO's front desk awake. Once she saw who it was, she perked up considerably.

"Vice President Leaf! I was wondering where you were. Where have you been?"

"Had an off-day, Josie," Lyra mumbled, avoiding eye contact with the hybrid and pushing the door securely closed. It had been years since the door had functioned smoothly without assistance. "And for the millionth time, just call me Lyra."

Josephine scoffed. "_'Off-day?'_ Didn't know those existed here. How'd you bribe her?"

"I said I'd write her part of the speech for the convention. It won't be that hard, all I have to do is include something like_ 'Teslas are better than everyone!'_ She'll accept that, I'm sure of it."

The silver Volt rolled her eyes. "Sad, but true. Here to see President Tesla?"

"Yep."

"Go right ahead. See you tomorrow, I guess?"

"Don't worry, I'll be on time."

The two cars exchanged friendly waves before the Nissan disappeared into the hallway. Unlike the building she had been in earlier, Lyra knew the interior of this establishment like the back of her tire. The lack of need to follow anyone or stop to remember her way freed her mind to think about more important things. The only event so far secured to be in her near future was the upcoming GEVO convention, celebrating the organization's anniversary of ten years, seven of which Lyra had been present. The physical aspects of the party had been, for the most part, taken care of - renting a large outdoor pavilion, sending out the invitations, making a careful selection of oil-free foods and drinks for the guests to enjoy, buying streamers, confetti and even fireworks - and there wasn't much left to be done except the speeches. But she still didn't want to go, on the off chance that_ he _might be there. Lyra hadn't spoken to him in years since their latest argument, which he had been determined to make their last. Their parting was swift, and Lyra doubted he knew what a nightmare her life had been since.

Her train of thought was put to a halt when she opened the door to Nicole's office, immediately recognizing the sleek, elegant contours of the Tesla's frame from behind. Nicole didn't even seem the least bit surprised that Lyra had stopped by, probably knowing that her Vice President would rather get her work done sooner than procrastinate. Nicole turned around, her unique and ridiculously expensive luxury paint job swirling smoothly between red, orange, and yellow with the slightest motion. She pursed her plump, shining lips when she saw the blue sedan positioned before her, a look of thorough disappointment flickering in her piercing violet eyes.

"I would have expected you to be here sooner, _Lyra._"

Lyra narrowed her eyes. "Hey! You gave me an off-day, remember?"

"Of _course _I remember. The memory of a Tesla is far superior to -"

She was cut off. "I guess you and I have different definitions of the word 'off-day,' then?"

Nicole sighed in exasperation, as if Lyra was a perplexed toddler who could not seem to grasp the concept of one plus one equaling two.

"Vice President Leaf, my expectations of you are very high. By giving you an off-day, I was trying to see how long it'd take for you to get _bored._"

The Nissan shook her hood. "I... I don't understand."

"Face it, Lyra," the Roadster whispered harshly, venom in her voice. "You have no life outside of this organization. No visible talents, no potential in any other field that I know of. And my knowledge," she added, leaning closer and batting her heavily lined eyelids as she spoke, "is _far_ more than yours."

She backed up, a stern glare encircling her features. After waiting until the silence had gone on long enough to become awkward, she explained her previous statement. "There's only so much sightseeing you can do in London, Lyra. Seven years' worth of mindless exploring is a far stretch of the imagination, and I'm not buying it anymore. What do you do every morning, hm? Your work here doesn't begin until four o' clock in the afternoon. If I didn't know better, I'd be a little _suspicious._"

Lyra was positively infuriated. A million thoughts ran through her head at lightning speed, and she had to employ every ounce of her self-control to keep them from flying out of her mouth. _What about YOU, Tesla? What do YOU do every DAY while I'M busy forging your signature and answering your stupid fan mail?! _She felt the pressure in her hubcaps escalating as she struggled to prevent any of the numerous weapons concealed within them from emerging. Finally she cleared her throat, regarding Nicole as if nothing had happened between them. "Got anything you need finished?"

Nicole chuckled, a sinister air about her. "Oh, _plenty. _That stack there -" she pointed with her tire - "is all of the RSVPs we received today. I need you to go through them, separate them into 'yes' and 'no,' and add the necessary names to the guest list. That and the speeches. Now, don't waste any more time. I want them all done by tomorrow night." She finished it off with a forced, uncharacteristic smile, which looked strange next to her tire shooing Lyra out of the office. The sedan promptly obeyed, making her way back home. Worries of her second job being discovered by President Nicole Tesla laced her thoughts the whole of the way.


	3. Chapter 3

[A/N: This is my first time attempting to switch perspectives repeatedly within the same chapter. I hope the awkward time overlap isn't too confusing. It was a cool exercise, though; seeing if I could tell the same events from the point of view of two different characters was fairly challenging. Sorry, Finn fangirls... :c I probably made him a bit too rude in this chapter, but Lyra doesn't seem like the kind of car that would very easily be able to gain his trust. Yes, I know I promised that Acer and Lyra would meet in this chapter. But they will in the next one. For reals this time. c;]

Happy reading,

~Anaïs (Zyruma)

_~•~•~•~•~•~•~_

A thick layer of clouds blanketed the sky, blocking every fragment of azure from view and the sun's rays with it. Instead of the usual feathery white tufts of cotton strewn here and there about the atmosphere, these clouds, not unlike what little light could manage to filter through them, were a dull, steely gray.

Inside her apartment, Lyra jolted awake. As she waited for her eyes to adjust, she instinctively reached for the cord protruding from her charging port and pulled it loose. Flinging it aside, she skimmed over what she had hastily written down the previous night, gasping as she realized a sentence had been left unfinished, a wobbly streak of graphite occupying the rest of the page. She couldn't even remember writing half of what she read, and the other half was illegible. The RSVPs had been successfully sorted and the guest list updated, but by that point Lyra had been dizzy with exhaustion. Starting work on the speeches had been a bad idea. Maybe she'd have time -

Time! How long had she slept? Lyra jumped at the window and yanked the curtains open, horrified at the sight of the morning traffic already crowding the roads three stories below. The drafts for the speeches were swept into the trash before the Nissan hastily readied herself, bursting out the door and not bothering to lock it behind her. Colorless beams of piercing light assaulted her eyes upon exiting the building, forcing her to squint, but she knew her way so well it was hardly a bother. The bustling lanes stood before her, full of cars honking and shouting and waving. Cars on the front porches of houses across the road kissed their families goodbye, heading to their ordinary jobs to make an ordinary living and go about their perfectly ordinary lives.

But no public road could take Lyra where she needed to go, and her job was anything but ordinary. Instead of merging into the flow, she turned around and ducked into a narrow space between two walls, ignoring the slimy moss that grew in abundance. The passage opened out to a large paved area behind a row of buildings, although the concrete had split open in several places, clumps of weeds pushing through the wide cracks and drinking in the moisture that hung in the air. Lyra drove ahead, humming absentmindedly. Before long she felt the concrete come to an abrupt end under her tires, damp soil replacing it.

The marks she had made on a select few trees over half a decade ago were barely visible, faded enough that no one would see them if they weren't trying to. Lyra hadn't bothered to replace them, having driven the path too many times to forget where she was headed. As she drove towards the heart of the forest, the canopy of branches thickened, reducing white sheets of sunlight to weak patches of green upon the moss-carpeted earth.

At last Lyra arrived at her destination, brushing away a couple of leaves that must have fallen the previous night to reveal the wide base of what was probably the largest tree in the forest. The marking on this one was unlike any of the others. Lyra hadn't put it there. It bore an image of a gear, perfectly round and flawlessly symmetrical. She pressed it firmly, feeling a rectangular plate of metal heat up underneath her tire, and when she withdrew, the carving glowed a brilliant turquoise. After emitting a melodic series of electronic tones, the panel - painted scarily convincingly to resemble tree bark - extended and popped open. Inside was a keypad, which Lyra knew required a ten-digit numerical code for entry.

Before she could even lift her tire, however, the snap of a twig and a rustle in the bushes made her gasp. She turned around, instinctively withdrawing a pair of guns from her hubcaps, ready to fire if she was attacked. But she saw nothing. Her eyes scanned the foliage, looking for any sign of movement other than that which was caused by the wind. That's when she saw it. Another pair of eyes, staring right into hers. She jumped back, exclaiming loudly, and was sure she heard a startled whimper that couldn't have been her own. The leaves rustled once again, and the eyes were gone. Lyra glanced down at her guns, both of them gleaming threateningly at her sides. Whatever that had been, she'd probably scared it off.

Shrugging her fenders and deciding it was nothing to worry about, Lyra returned to the keypad, carefully pressing each key in the code and reading it over twice before confirming it with the _ENTER_ button. _ACCESS GRANTED_ scrolled across the screen. She backed up to watch the car-sized area of ground in front of her lower to form a ramp, leading down into the dim bluish glow of a room Lyra knew all too well. Down to every scratch on the wall and every stain on the floor, she had memorized it all. To tell the truth, she had nothing better to do than look around most days. The Internet was prohibited for use by security guards like herself so as to avoid distraction should something actually happen, and she wouldn't have much to do on it anyway. Sometimes she wondered why she'd taken the job in the first place, but then she'd realize that having a full-time job at GEVO would mean more time spent under the same roof as Nicole Tesla, and the Nissan would take staring at a wall all day over the moody Roadster in an instant.

There was a bit of overlap in the shift schedule, so the room was seldom unoccupied when Lyra drove in. Seven years had seen four different security guards come and go in the shift preceding Lyra's hours; she made no effort to get to know any of them. Usually, no more than a smile and a nod was exchanged between them as the role was handed off. But today, there were two cars in the room - beside the familiar lavender Toyota who had taken up the position back in March, was a visibly agitated Finn McMissile.

"You may go, Agent Steerson. Apologies for the wait."

The Toyota made her exit. Lyra swallowed hard, avoiding Finn's eyes, choosing instead to stare intently at one of his headlights. She'd already made contact with an unwelcome pair of eyes as it was.

"Now, as for you, Agent Leaf..."

"Yeah, I'm late, I know," Lyra mumbled.

"Late _again,_" Finn corrected. "I do believe this must be the third time this week?"

"Look, I'm sorry. It's my boss, she gives me too much work. Not enough time."

"That excuse won't work with me, you know whose fault this is."

"I swear it won't happen again, okay? Finn, ya got me?"

"Exactly what you told me last time, and that's _Agent McMissile_ to you. One more slip-up and you'll be stuck sanitizing our lavatories!"

He departed swiftly, the door merging seamlessly with the wall when it closed, leaving no visible outline. From what Lyra could see, there was no way in, no way out. Only her own breathing and the gentle hiss of an air vent on one of the walls could be heard.

It had always been like this, but on this day, at this moment, Lyra felt more alone than she had in a long time.

_~•~•~•~•~•~•~_

Acer retreated into the bushes, ignoring the gashes the thorny brambles scraped painfully into his already ruined paint. The image of a pair of bright lime-green eyes still searing in his vision, he leaned against a tree and wondered if what he had seen had really been there, or if his mind had finally gone.

_Voices._ Seeming to come somehow from directly below him, they were strongly muffled, yet Acer could still easily recognize that one was male, and the other distinctly female. He held his breath, straining to make out what they were saying, and was able to catch a small bit of their conversation.

_"...third time this week?"_

_"...too much work..."_

Acer leaned down to listen more closely, feeling something unpleasant nagging at the back of his mind. One of the voices seemed oddly familiar.

_"...you know whose fault..."_

_"...won't happen again, okay?"_

_"...Agent McMissile to you."_

Acer's eyes widened. _Agent McMissile. _None other than the car who had been Mater's accomplice in wrecking his life. The female voice couldn't have been Miss Shiftwell's, but he had no doubt that its owner was a spy as well, and if she had recognized him...

The voices stopped. Acer waited for any sound to disturb the near silence, but nothing came. Not even the engine of a car, save for his own.

The room was empty.

_Time to investigate._

He turned around slowly, seeing nothing but forest at first glance. It wasn't until he got within a few feet of the large tree that a marking became visible, carved perfectly in the shape of a single gear. Lifting a shaking tire up to it, he could feel a small amount of residual heat from its recent use radiating into the frigid air. Acer wasn't sure how to activate it, but he figured simply pressing it was a good place to start. The gear heated up against his tire, glowing before making a strange noise, and then popping open, a keypad extending to hang inches from his eyes.

Then it occurred to him: he didn't know the code. Panicking, Acer pressed his tire hard into the keypad, aiming to shove it by force back inside the tree, but his efforts only succeeded in entering in a random string of numbers. The ten-digit limit reached, the screen blinked red with _ACCESS DENIED_. The ground dropped suddenly away, and for a split second he was falling into a jarring red glow, and then he hit the floor. The pain of contact only registered briefly, numbed by flashing lights and screams that weren't his. He tried to back away, but it was no use; the room had been sealed once again.

Everything in sight was bathed in pulsing red flashes, including the car that stood before him - _how did she get here?! - _who appeared to be just as scared as he was. She regained control of herself rather quickly, however, shouting something of a warning to Acer that he didn't quite comprehend, his head spinning and his vision blurry. The next thing he knew, an immense surge of electricity coursed through his entire frame, concentrated to an intensity that made him feel as if he was burning from the inside out. He wanted to scream, but his voice had fled, his vision slipping away moments later as everything went black.

_~•~•~•~•~•~•~_

The low electronic hum of the closing door played itself back over and over in Lyra's head. With a deep sigh, she stretched her axles and closed her eyes, thinking that - and definitely not for the first time - she might sleep a good part of her shift away. Yet sleep eluded her bothered mind, chased away by thoughts of the GEVO convention and the speeches that still needed to be written. While the image of Nicole stumbling over her words and making a complete fool of herself was certainly amusing, she couldn't even begin to think what horrible things the Tesla might do to her afterwards.

A slightly audible scuffling noise from outside drew her attention. And then - the sound of an _engine? _No, it couldn't be. _No one ever uses this entrance. _And it wasn't nearly time for her shift to be over. _Someone_ was breaking in. Lyra was terrified, and also strangely excited. Maybe today was the day she would finally get to prove her worth as a security guard. Maybe today was the day Fi- _Agent McMissile_ would see that she had potential to be something else, something important -

All thoughts of valiance were shamefully shoved aside as the ceiling practically snapped in two, bringing several large piles of damp, mossy earth down with it into the previously spotless room.

Along with a _car._

He was quite a bit smaller than Lyra, and looked to be severely damaged. _Probably harmless._ Nonetheless, Lyra remembered her duties, and with a click of her hubcap her electroshockers rested at her side. She bit her lip, hesitating. She had never used them before, despite all the times she had wanted to when Nicole was around.

"This might hurt a bit!"

The Nissan looked away, shutting her eyes, and delivered the shock. She wasn't sure whether he had even heard her warning, and of course, having felt the effect for herself years ago during training,_a bit_ had been a sore understatement.

"...Sorry," she mumbled, embarrassed.

Apprehensively, she turned around, opening her eyes to find that the red glow and alarms had subsided. With a start the car's make and model became apparent to her, leaving her with no doubt that he hadn't been on the Command Headquarters' side during the incident involving the World Grand Prix. Gently prodding the green Pacer's fender with her tire, she confirmed him to be unconscious, a pained expression still frozen on his face.


End file.
